This invention relates to a hand-operated knitting machine, and more particularly to an electrical connection apparatus for establishing an electrical connection for power or control signals between electrical devices on the knitting machine body and on the movable carriage on the machine body.
Knitting machines have been proposed using electromechanical actuators, including electromagnets on the movable carriage, for selecting knitting needles in the needle bed. Often, other electric or electronic elements such as photoelectric pulse generators including light sources and photoelectric transducers are used. In such machines the power source for driving or controlling such elements on the carriage is conventionally provided on the machine body or the needle bed, and an electrical connection must, therefore, be established between the carriage and the machine body or needle bed.
A connecting cable or cord including a plurality of separate wires or conductors usually provides an inexpensive, simple, and relatively reliable means for effecting such a connection. However, such a conventional cable or cord means is not without problems and disadvantages. It can, for example, become entangled with the moving elements in the machine, thereby disturbing smooth operation or jamming the carriage or other machine elements.